The Straw Hats' Monster Lady
by Rod Vulpine
Summary: After being defeated by Shikamaru and Temari, Tayuya does not die. Instead she is transported to the world of One Piece. She gets captured as a slave and is forced to serve in an inn by her owner. Oh, and she's stuck in her second cursed seal state. But what happens when a certain Straw Hat Pirate visits that inn? TayuyaxUssop! Rated M for swearing, sexual themes and some nudity!


**Author's notes: **

**Just a random idea I had. Plus Luffy loves exotic looking creatures and people. In this fic Tayuya cannot use her Genjutsu Flute, since she doesn't have it with her, so she will rely on good ol' buttkicking and monster strength. Not to mention some awesome ninja skills! And I'll make her about as strong as Sanji. And as an added bonus I'll convert her chakra power to Armament Haki since being transported to the One Piece Universe introduces several changes in her. Hope that's not too much... I'm only trying to make her as strong as the rest of the crew so she can help out with the fighting.**

**She might act a bit OOC in this fic so I hope you can bear with it.**

**Why is she stuck in her Second Cursed seal state? Coz she looks hot! Also I've aged her up to 18 years old and made her well-endowed to match Nami and Robin's sexappeal. ;) **

**As a final answer to another question: Why with Ussop? Coz it will be hilarious! XD**

**Again! This fic is rated M for swearing, nudity and moderate and explicit sexual themes. **

The Straw Hats' monster lady

Chapter 1

These horns are awesome! Luffy meets the monster kunoichi!

'_Wha….. How…. Am I in hell?'_ Tayuya thought as her eyes half opened but then squinted, blinded by the light.

Her eyelids were heavy but oddly enough even though her legs were supposed to hurt like hell right now, she felt fine. And she could still feel them for that matter. The last thing Tayuya remembered was her being crushed under a pile of trees after losing to those accursed Leaf and Sand Ninja. Oddly enough though, there was evidence that pointed otherwise.

'_This looks like some room. So I am alive, then?'_ The girl kept contemplating, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.

Something was off though. The first thing was that she still felt the horns at the back of her head scraping against the wooden surface she was lying on. The second: the feeling of thick shackles binding her in place.

"What the HELL is going on? Why am I in my second state? Why am I bound?" Tayuya yelled as she tried to get up but couldn't.

"I see you are awake, my monster girl slave." A man's voice came to her left as she turned her head towards the sound.

He was but a mere middle aged man, with tanned skin, a big portly figure and a greying bushy mustache above his upper lip. He wore black pants, a green sash on his waist, a white linen button up shirt and a black open vest. His shirt had some of its buttons undone and you could see his chest hair.

"Who are you, you ugly bastard? And why am I bound?" Tayuya demanded, feeling livid.

"I am Duran sama and I found you passed out on the road. You looked like a pretty good looking girl even if you do look like a monster, so I decided to take you with me and make you my new slave." The man smirked, and it was such a slimy grin, you could practically see the ooze dripping from his lips.

"A slave? Did you just call ME Tayuya, Shinobi of the Village hidden in the Sound, member of the Sound Four and guardian of the North Gate… your slave?" The girl spat with all the malice she could muster. She even tried to get up but could only prop herself on her shoulders.

"Nice titles you have there. But they are no longer relevant. Because from now on… you belong to me." The foul geezer approached Tayuya and put his finger to her chin, lifting up her face to look at him.

The sheer furry and hatred on her visage pleased him. It was always the feisty ones that got him all excited. Forgetting about any shame and restraint, Duran snaked his hand lower, brushing against Tayuya's collarbones and then unceremoniously placed a hand on one of her large G cup breasts, groping it.

"FUCKEEEEEEER!" The monster lady let out a battle cry like a wild beast, yanking her chains apart and then breaking them with her bare hands.

These happened to be thick iron shackles but they were like mere twigs to Tayuya as she possessed the raw unbound power of her second state curse mark!

Going straight for her offender, she slammed the man against the wall, her eyes burning with pure animosity.

"But you're a devil fruit user! Those were Seaprism stone shackles! Why?" Duran spoke quite shocked at this turn of events.

"I don't know what either of these is but either way you're dead!" Tayuya growled with a deep and scary unearthly voice, claws growing onto her fingers and aiming at the guy's throat.

"Wait! Before you kill me… Look at the thing on your neck." The geezer said in haste, desperately clinging onto his life.

Forgetting about her anger for a moment Tayuya touched her neck. She indeed felt something on it. It was metallic and thick. It was… a collar.

"What is this? What is this you fat shit? Tell me!" She yelled, flinging Duran over her back and facing him.

"Heheheheheh!" The geezer snickered as he staggered onto his feet, the evil gleam in his eyes returning.

"This is a new and improved bomb collar. It's what people put on slaves. It cost me a fortune to get on the black market but it was worth it for sexy prize like you. If you try and take it off it will explode, if you try and run away it will explode, if you try to kill me it will explode but most importantly if you keep disobeying me I can make it explode manually."

"What?" Tayuya muttered, completely taken aback.

"You're, you're bluffing." She said in desperation.

"Wanna try me?" Duran took out a small device that looked like a detonator and put his thumb on the button.

"Listen." He pressed it.

And then a ticking began to echo throughout the room. And it was coming from Tayuya's collar.

The sound made the ninja's blood freeze. It kept ticking and ticking, each second marking her impending doom. Finally Tayuya's self-preservation instincts kicked in and fear took ahold, wracking her body and soul on the inside. She was terrified for her life!

"N-no! Please! Make it stop! Stop the countdown! I'll… I'll do whatever you tell me to! Just please spare me!"

"Heheheheh! Good girl." Duran clicked the device again, stopping the ticking.

"You are mine now."

It had been half a year since Tayuya had become Duran's slave. Turns out she was no longer in her own world but instead in a sea realm surrounded by islands and full of pirates, and was ran by an organization called the World Government backed by the Navy. The particular place she was at: Tortuga, somewhere in the New World's half of the Grand Line, an island where pirates gathered. And those devil fruit users she was mistaken for were actually people who ate these supernatural fruits and gained equally supernatural abilities, losing their ability to swim in the process. Not that it mattered to Tayuya! She hated it here! And she hated her master most of all! She wanted to kill the bastard but she couldn't! And why couldn't she turn back to her old human self? Oddly enough, the curse mark no longer took any tolls on her body. She just felt normal, yet strong. And she was missing her flute, so killing Duran indirectly was out of the question. Heck, she was lucky Duran hadn't made her whore out with one of the customers yet. Speaking of which, she was currently working as a waitress at the inn he owned. And it sucked because she was made to serve in deplorable skimpy little outfits! Fetishy little pigs! Death to them all!

Even though strong willed and defiant, the long months of slavery nevertheless slowly took their effect on her psyche and the kunoichi had no idea if she should even hold onto hope for liberation or abandon it.

And then… on the 182nd day since her capture, a man walked into the inn… or should I say, crashed into it… XD

_/ 19:07 pm. Tortuga Island, Duran's Inn/_

"Heeeeeeey Horny chan, more Rum!" A rude sailor called out to Tayuya, his drunk-ridden face forming a stupid grin.

"Don't call me that!" The kunoichi hissed as she went for the drink and then abruptly tossed the glass and the bottle in the air, each of them landing perfectly on the table without one drop spilling.

"Oooooooooh!" The sailors clapped appreciatively at the display.

"Gosh, I wish I had a wife like you. Even if you are a little monstrous with these horns and eyes of yours, you're still a cutey badass chan." Another dude from the company commented in his admiration.

"Then go and find yourself one if you're such a man." Tayuya replied coldly, cursing the man in her mind.

"Hahahahahahaahahah! Thanks, I'll try!" Everyone in the place laughed boisterously rapping their mugs and wooden pints against the tables.

Duran grinned behind the counter as he wiped a glass clean. His slave's feisty attitude still hadn't diminished at all. And that was good for him. He got more regular customers that way. And the men loved her. However that's not to say he didn't have any problems. Tayuya would often have these temper problems, often close to bashing the customers who would dare to cop a feel and she did lots of collateral damage in the process. The middle aged man often had to threaten her to tone down this annoying attitude of hers but that only worked partially. He still thought she should try and "entertain" the more important guests for the night but breaking that pride of hers was proving to be a challenge.

"Move out of the waaaaaaaaaay! I need my MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT!" A small voice came from outside as it kept growing and growing in volume until the one it belonged to burst into the inn's dual swinging doors, yelling his lungs out.

He was a young man, 5 feet and 8 and a half inches tall. He had messy black hair, a scar underneath his left eye and another cross shaped one on his bare chest. He wore an open, long-sleeved red cardigan with four buttons, with a yellow sash tied around his waist and blue shorts that went all the way down to his knee caps. Even though slender, his physique was adorned with quite the detailed and lean muscles especially in the area of the abs and pecks. But what were most eye catching details about him were his straw hat with a red band around its base and his very goofy and large toothy smile.

Of course his rather loud entrance was noticed by everybody in the establishment as they all turned their heads to stare at him.

'_Oh look, here comes Mr. Bonehead Idiot.'_ Tayuya thought with a wry look.

"Yoooooooosh, this looks like a great place to eat!" The straw hat dude said as he strode in with a spring in his step.

"O-o-o-oooh! Aaa-aaaah! Oh no!" All of the other customers trembled in fear as the adolescent passed them, gossiping amongst each other.

"That's Straw Hat Luffy! He's Straw Hat Luffy! Straw Hat! It's Straw Hat!" everyone murmured.

"Who's Straw Hat Luffy?" The former ninja asked one of the sailors who was shaking like a leaf.

"Foolish girl! Haven't you heard of him? He's the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates! He is a very infamous pirate in the New World. He beat some of the members of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, allied himself with some former ones, declared war on the World Government, caused havoc in the War of the Best, and after two years of disappearance he and his crew reappeared shocking the world by defeating the infamous underworld broker Donquixote Doflamingo! He is a force to be reckoned with, with a bounty of 400 000 000 Berri!" he gave Tayuya an exposition.

"Four hundred million, huh?" She repeated her gaze attracted to Luffy. Her interest was sparked.

"Hm?! Why are you all staring at me like that?" Luffy noted, making everybody even tenser.

"Forgive us Staw Hat Luffy sama! Your appearance in my humble inn has made the men… a little tense because of your splendor." Duran sucked up to the famous pirate, preparing a glass.

"Oh? Shishishishiii!" The Straw Hat boy giggled, grinning even wider.

"Eeeeeh! I didn't know I was that famous." He blushed, little stars of flattery appearing around him.

"Heeey everyone! Don't be like that. We're all friends here. Let's all get along. Let's eat and driiiiiiiiiiiiink!" He raised the empty glass, which made everyone forget about their worries and merrily yell cheers.

"He sure doesn't look like much." Tayuya said as she continued attending to the customers, the atmosphere quickly going back to the way it was.

"So what will it be Luffy sama!" Duran said as he took out his best bottle of sake.

"Just some milk and lots, and lots of Meat! A whoooooole mountain-full!" Luffy answered, putting the emphasis on meat.

"Right away!" The owner said as he hopped to it.

The Pirate King to be spent half an hour gorging himself on all sorts of dishes and being completely oblivious to everything else. He was quite ill-mannered too as Tayuya noted. However it was when her boss went in the back room and Luffy shouted "More Milk!" that things got interesting.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time!" The shinobi groaned as she brought a bottle with her.

Coming beside the pirate she sipped him the milk, her mood being one of melancholy.

'_Who am I kidding? I'll probably be stuck in this shit-hole for life.'_ She thought to herself as she let out a sigh.

But then… she noticed that the Straw Hat boy was staring at her hand. And it was a very weird look that he was giving it. His eyes trailed up her arm, going across her body and stopping right at her face. They widened to a large degree.

'_Great! The genius noticed I look like a monster. Not that he's the first one.'_ Tayuya internally face palmed, preparing for the usual look of horror.

"Woooooooooah! Coooooooooooool!" Luffy exclaimed, shocking her and the rest of the people who looked at him again.

"A Monster lady! So Aaaawesome! You look so cooooooool! You have horns! And blackies instead of whities in your eyes! And Yellow eyes! And cool black marks on your face! And dark skin! And cool hair! Su-weeeeeeeeeeeet!" He fawned all over the female ninja, stars literally glowing in his eyes.

"Well this is new." Tayuya commented, not quite sure what else to say.

"Kukukuku! I see you like my little waitress here." Duran appeared from the employee's only door, a smug look on his face.

"Yeah! She looks great!" Luffy said, smiling all the way.

"I'm glad to hear that. Her name is Tayuya. Would you like… to get to know her better?" The bar owner lowered his head with a sly expression.

"What! You damn…" Tayuya tried to protest but was shushed.

"Totally!" Straw Hat nodded, his words striking terror in the maiden's heart.

"I could send her to your room if you would stay here for the night."

"Hmmmmm… Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. I got separated from my friends and I don't know where else to go. So I guess I'll stay here and let them find me." Luffy grinned, showing off his simple boyish charm.

"Good. Here's the key to our best room." Duran nodded, handing our protagonist a key with the number 18 engraved on it.

"Sweet! I want some food sent in there too! I'm still a bit peckish." Luffy noted, in contrast of the fact that he had already eaten a quarter ton of food.

Walking up the stairs, the other men stared at him in envy, as they all wished they could have the dark skinned kunoichi for the night.

"You fat ugly fucker!" Tayuya growled, indignant at the situation her boss had just put her in.

"Now, now Tayuya chan. If you do a good job and entertain our special guest for the night, there will be a lot of money coming our way." He tried to justify his action but the woman would have none of it.

"I'm not a prostitute damn you!" She yelled, anger flaring in her voice.

"You will be if you know what's good for you!" Duran pulled out a familiar device with his thumb on the trigger.

"Remember Tayuya chan. I have your life in my hands."

With a mix of fear and rage, the maiden's will broke as she nodded, turned around and went to get the food.

Luffy clapped his sandals together, feeling bored. He had been waiting for 15 minutes and that was simply too much time to wait for a spunky adventurer. He wanted nothing more but to see the monster girl again and talk to her about stuff; maybe ask her if she knows some other cool monsters from where she's from.

The door creaked open and Luffy beheld a large cart being wheeled to him, his eyes lighting up with anticipation. It was his food and the beast lady was pushing the wheels. He was so happy right now.

"Aaah, my food! Gimme!" He spoke as he sat on his bed and opened the giant metal lid that was covering the platter, relishing the smell of the food before quickly getting on with scarfing everything down.

Tayuya on the other hand said nothing and simply reclined against the wall, wishing she could just fade into the background forever. She had put on a white peasant top with falling sleeves and ample cleavage, a black corset with two large vertical red stripes, a very short two layer skirt, a pair of over the knee high heel boots and a small but stylish scarf that matched her corset's pattern. She wore the scarf most of the time and never took it off in public, always ashamed of showing her attribute of slavery. She also felt so pissed to be wearing such a degrading outfit and at the same time robbed of her dignity; but words could not explain how many emotions were swirling around inside her. The kunoichi felt almost like crying but nevertheless chose to stay strong and suck it up.

"Hey! What are you doing way over there? Come sit next to me!" Luffy interrupted Tayuya's thoughts as he invited her over.

"No offense but I'd rather stay where I am until you give me the next order." The girl answered, her head hung low, her eyes obscured by her bangs.

"What are you talking about order? I might be here for a little while but I only called you in here coz you seemed cool. Come on! I wanna hear all about your home. I bet there are lots of awesome monster people there just like you." The pirate flashed his pearly whites.

"So you don't want to have sex?" Tayuya asked, not believing her ears.

"What's sex?" Luffy tilted his head.

"…" The demon girl paused, completely at a loss.

'_This guy is more clueless than anyone I've ever met. But then again…'_

"Why would a pirate want to know about me?" she spoke, completely puzzled.

"Duh, coz you look awesome. In fact you seem just like the type of person I'd like to be friends with."

"Who the hell Are you?"

"Me? My name is Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the man who's gonna be King of the Pirates."

"Hah! You sure are a gutsy guy. You must be either brave or stupid."

"My crewmates tell me I'm both."

"Heh! You're funny."

"Thanks! So what kind of a devil fruit did you eat?"

"None! It's… it's complicated why I'm like this."

"Cool! A mystery transformation! Can you transform into anything else?"

"No! I… Well I can only tell you I used to be human but… I kind of lost my ability to change back to normal. And now I'm stuck like this. Funny thing is I feel natural in this form; except stronger."

"EEEEH! You're strong?"

"Yeah!"

"How strong?"

"Very strong of course!"

Tayuya had no idea why she kept conversing so freely with this Straw Hat boy. He was so… infantile… and yet she couldn't help but feel at ease around him. He drew her in with his simple and carefree nature. He was different from the other scum that called themselves pirates. He was kind to her. Something Tayuya had never been given in her entire life.

"Hey, cool scarf! Can I try it on?" Luffy reached for her neck only for his hand to be smacked away.

"No! Don't touch that!" Tayuya raised her tone, knitting her brows.

"Come on! Just for a second!"

"I said no!"

"Sharing is caring! Come on!"

"NO!"

"Don't be a meany!"

The two struggled and wrestled, rolling around on the floor until… the scarf ended up in Luffy's hand and he saw what was behind it.

"A-a-a-ah!" Straw Hat's eyes grew large as he stared at the metallic collar and the two small orbs attached to it.

"HAPPY? NOW YOU KNOW! I'M A SLAVE! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?" Tayuya screeched in furry and sorrow, dropping onto her knees.

"I can't take it anymore." She murmured as the tears finally came rolling across her cheeks.

The kunoichi wished she could just die on the spot right now.

"How long have you been a slave?" Luffy spoke with an emotionless tone breaking the silence.

"Six months." Tayuya blurted out without even thinking.

"Who's your master?"

"Duran. The man behind the counter you met and the owner of this inn."

"I guess it can't be helped then." Luffy said taking off his hat and letting it hang by the tread on his neck.

"I'll just have to make him tell me where the key is so I can free you."

"What?" Tayuya looked up in disbelief but the straw hat boy was already on the move.

As he passed her kneeling form, she saw the dark and determined look in his eyes.

'_He's pissed… because of me being a slave? He… wants to help me?'_ She thought as none of it made any sense to her. No one had cared about her that much. Not lord Orochimaru, nor her former teammates, nor that rat Kabuto. And yet this stranger wanted to put his life on the line. All for her!

As Luffy left the room, Tayuya scrambled onto her feet and went after him. Walking close behind him she accompanied the pirate down the stairs going straight for the counter. As Luffy stared down Duran with the utmost intensity, everyone quieted down, once again gathering their attention to this infamous man.

"Oy w-what's the matter Luffy Sama? D-did Tayuya displease you? I'm sorry! It won't happen again! T-tell me how can I make it up to you?" The middle aged man shook as he gazed upon the fierce pair of eyes.

"Yeah! In fact you can. You can start by giving me the key to Tayuya's bomb collar. I'm taking her from you. And if you got a problem with that, I'll just steal it from you like a pirate is supposed to." Luffy retorted, his tone dead serious.

"A-ah… come now Luffy sama, you didn't listen to this little slave's sap story did you? Come now. If you want her so much I could sell her to you for a price." The inn owner stuttered, putting on a fake grin. But then that grin got smashed in as the pirate promptly punched him, sending him flying into all the glass bottles put up on display.

"I HATE PEOPLE LIKE YOU THE MOST!" Luffy yelled mightily.

"Hey! I don't know what your beef with Duran san is but you're definitely asking for it kid! I don't care how much your bounty is! You won't get away with this!" A tall and quite huge looking sailor stood up and so did his friends, the whole clientele soon following.

Some of them took out katanas and cutlasses, others guns. The ones with the fire arms fired upon the straw hat pirate but to their biggest surprise he dodged all the bullets with ease.

"Gomu Gomu Noooooooo… MUCHI!" He yelled, stretching his leg and sweeping away half of the men, tables and chairs in the process.

"Careful! He's got devil fruit powers!" One of the survivors yelled as they charged Luffy.

"What Are You?" Tayuya said as she pressed her back against her current partner's, punching and kicking alongside him.

"I'm a rubber man. I ate the gum gum fruit and now I can stretch. Cool huh?" Luffy grinned as he kept doing fancy acrobatics while dodging, and stretching his limbs to create powerful attacks.

"Bravo you two! You sure managed to ruin my drinking night." A tall and muscular man stopped the fight with only the sound of his voice, all of the guys looking at him with fear.

"I'm Gerardio Kabenzo. And I'm a pirate captain worth two hundred million berries." He announced, revealing himself as a tanned man with Jamaican dreadlocks contained by a green head band, and had a white baggy shirt, baggy purple pants and a red sash.

"Now I may not be worth as much as you Monkey D. Luffy but I'm still gonna kick you little ass." he threatened in a low tone as his body turned into lead.

"A-a-ahh, that's lead-grey Gerardio! They say no one can survive his heavy punch or his sharp pointy bullet spray!" One of the sailors said as the rest of the men ran out, screaming in horror.

"Hahaaah! I sure hope this'll be a good fight!" Luffy chuckled as he pulled back his arm and activated his armament haki, coating the limb jet black.

"This one is mine." Tayuya intervened, barring his way with her arm.

"Hah! What are Youuu gonna do little weak slave girl? Serve me another drink?" Gerardio mocked her, flaunting his arrogance.

It was at that moment that Luffy felt a great power surge right next to him. It was coming from Tayuya. She was giving off a blood red fiery aura from her body as her locks fluctuated, as if blown by an invisible wind. Her presence was immensely strong and her willpower even more so.

Without warning Tayuya bolted like an arrow, spinning and hitting the two hundred million berry man straight in the gut. Gerardio coughed blood, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he was forcefully propelled through the wall. But he didn't stop there. He kept crashing through buildings one after another until finally skidding to a halt at one of the docks, completely blacked out.

'_This feels a lot different than it used to. Especially my chakra. It's like I can channel it freely all over my body and concentrate it into my fist. I think I might just get used to fighting at close range.'_ Tayuya reflected on her attack, the whole experience feeling completely new to her.

"Woooooooooooow! That was greeeeeeeeeeeat! You can use Hakiiiiiiii! And you're as strong as Sanjiiiiiii!" Luffy bellowed his starry admiration mode reactivating.

"Who's Sanji?" Tayuya turned her head, cocking a brow.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE YOU TWO!" The familiar voice of Duran rang in their ears, making them acknowledge his presence.

"I-i-i-if you value this girl's life Straw Hat you'll do as I say!" He stuttered as he held onto his favorite little device, his finger trembling above the trigger.

"What's that?" Luffy asked.

"It's the detonator to my bomb collar! If he presses that button, I'll die!" Tayuya backed away, her nerves getting the better of her.

"That's right and if you don't coopera… WAAAAH!" Duran screamed as Luffy stretched his arm and simply snagged the detonator away from his hand.

"You were saying?" Straw Hat asked nonchalantly while he crushed the thing into scrap.

"This wasn't supposed to hapeeee... Gyuk!" The inn owner had to time to panic as he was brought before Luffy, his throat clutched between the pirate captain's fingers.

"Where's the key to Tayuya's collar?" Luffy asked his face contorted in anger.

While trembling for his life, Duran finally came to a rational conclusion: All he needed to do in order to save his business and himself was to give up one slave. That wasn't such a great loss now was it?

"I-i-it's in the safe in my room w-which is number 25. The last room on the second floor. The one at the end of the hallway in the center." He coughed up the secret, sighing with relief as Luffy let him down.

"Heeheeheeheehee! Hang on Tayuya! You'll be free in no time!" He declared and ran for the stairs merrily.

"Oh, and watch the mean Ossan while you're at it!" he yelled from the top.

"Oh don't worry. I will." The ex-ninja frowned, looking down upon her soon to be ex-master with a piercing expression, crossing her arms.

"H-how dare you do this to me Tayuya! I will report you to the Marines!" Duran made some last moment threats half-heartedly as he was frozen stiff by the daggery glare of his subordinate.

"How dare I? How dare you, you old lecher. You treated me like trash and now you will pay for the entire half year you've been screwing with me."

"Tayuyaaaaa! Look! I've got your key!" Luffy slid down the wooden railing, flashing the kunoichi the prize she had longed for, for so long.

"Now hold still!" he said as Tayuya's heart pounded with excitement.

*CLANG, clink, clink, cliiink*

The delicate neck of the dark skinned kunoichi was finally revealed in its entire splendor.

"AAAaah… Aa-aaaah! Ha-hah! Haahaahaahaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Tayuya ran her fingers across her neck as she marveled in the sheer greatness of her unbridled joy.

"I'm… free. At long last I can stop being afraid and be my kickass self again." She looked up at the ceiling, a duo of tears running down her cheeks.

"Nyeeheeheeheehee! I'm glad." Luffy nodded his huge grin brighter than ever.

"There is one thing I've always wanted to do if I ever got free. Wanna help me Straw Hat?" The ex-shinobi addressed her liberator with an impish look.

"Why not."

"Let's bring this place down."

"Okay!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

_/20 seconds later/_

"Haaaahahahahaaaaaaaa! That was a fuuuuun evening!" Luffy rejoiced as he raised his fists in the air triumphantly as the duo stood behind a pile of rubble. He then put his trademark straw hat back on his head, sporting his enigmatic grin.

'_I made sure to knock one of the support beams on top of Duran. I saw him die as the last of the inn fell down. Serves the bastard right. And it felt good.'_ Tayuya looked upon the scraps of wood as her internal monologue went on,

'_This was the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. But it does leave me with the question as to what to do with my life from here. But first thing's first!'_

"Luffy!"

"Yeah!"

"Thank you! For freeing me that is…" The ex-kunoichi's lips curved upwards into a small but appreciative smile.

"Heehee! No problem!" The pirate put his fists on his waist, admiring his handiwork.

"But hey, now that we've come so far…" he began,

"Since you don't seem to have any other plans, how about you go out to sea with me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Join my pirate crew! We'll go on adventures!"

Tayuya was once again left speechless as she processed the words. With all of the mixed feelings that were swirling in her heart, one took ahold of her as she replied:

"But… Why? Why would you even want anyone on your crew like me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed? I'm a monster! I've killed many people in the past."

"Eeeeeeeeh! Not this thing again! I think you're the coolest lady ever and I like the fact that you're a monster. Stop being so stubborn and join me! You'll have lots of friends on my ship and we'll have lots of fun! We'll fight lotsa strong guys, sail the seas, live our dreams and be freer than anyone else!" The young man spread his hands wide, his pride and joy overflowing.

'_Is this what it's like to be a pirate?'_ Tayuya thought before she asked,

"But what if your crew doesn't accept me?"

"It'll be alright! They'll say yes! We already have a monster reindeer man as our ship's doctor so you won't stand out. I'm sure they'll like you just as much as I do." Luffy kept grinning as he offered his hand.

Tayuya thought carefully about this. But no matter how much she pondered, there was only one true answer in her heart. These were the things she never had and was always subconsciously craving for even if she didn't show it, and instead hid her personal desires behind a rough and mean façade.

"I guess I'll become a pirate then." The ex-ninja smiled taking the pirate captain's hand and shook it.

"Heeheeeee! YEEEEEEEAAAAAH! A NEW FRIEEEEEND!" Luffy cried out in triumph as the twosome took off afterwards, walking at a regular pace.

"So, who's this Sanji you were talking about earlier?"

"Aah, he's the cook on my ship."

"I'm as strong as you cook? Well that's pretty weak."

The Straw Hat pirates had gathered around on the main deck and were currently discussing their latest problem: their captain had run off somewhere on his own… again! At the center of the discussion was Nami, the crew's navigator and she was pretty steamed up by the sound of things:

"I can't believe our idiot captain isn't back yet! Even Zoro came back before him!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"What are we going to do?" Chopper asked, worried as usual.

"Perhaps we should spread out and find him." Ussop proposed.

"Ara, I hope he hasn't been captured by Marines. They could be torturing him right now."

"Robiiin! Don't say such dark thiiings!" Ussop cried much to the Archeologist's amusement.

"I know what that moron is doing. He's probably at some inn stuffing his face. And now he's stuck there since he can't pay the bill." Sanji commented, rubbing the spot between his eyes.

"Yohohohohoo! Perhaps each of us should take some money to bail him out if that's the case." Brook said.

"No way! We're low on cash as it is!" Nami protested, snapping.

"What about your bag of jewels!"

"No one's touching that! I'll hit you!"

"Oy, we should quit speculating and go already!" Franky got up as he approached the edge of the port side.

"Franky's right! Let's go everyone!" The navigator concluded and just as the rest of the crew stood up, they heard a familiar voice.

"Oooooooooy! Everyoooooooone! Are all of you on the shiiiip? I sure hope soooooo!"

"LUFFY!" everybody hollered as they ran up to where Franky was at.

The Straw Hat boy waved at his comrades as jolly as usual.

"You're all here! That's great!" He yelled as he stood.

"Luffy where have you been?"

"We were worried about you, you idiot!"

"Yeah, don't scare us like that!"

"Heehee! Welcome back captain san."

"Heeeeey! You'll never believe who I found at this inn! You'll absolutely love…" Luffy began his initial excitement dissipating as the person he was going to motion at was gone.

"Hey, where'd she go?" he said as he looked around here and there.

"What's this all about Luffy?" Nami called.

"I've got someone you guys have to meet! She's… Aaaaaah there you are!" The straw hat pirate declared as he saw a pair of horns protrude from behind the corner of a house.

"Come here!" he yelled as he stretched an arm and grabbed the mystery person.

"No! Let me go Luffy! I'm not ready yet!" Tayuya tried to wriggle free but it was of no use. Everybody on the ship could now see her.

And boy, were they surprised.

"Well this is Suuuper interesting."

"Sh-she looks scary."

"Gulp! Agreed."

"Oy Chopper, looks like Luffy found someone you can relate to."

"She's just like me! Hooray!"

"Ara! I personally think she looks quite cute."

"You're so right Robin chwan!"

"Yohohohoho! The excitement is leaking out my eyes! However I don't have eyes from which things to leak out of. Yohohohohoooo!"

**Author's notes2: **

**Hope you liked it. I think I did well enough. I'm really hoping for some reviews from you guys too. Also a question towards you the fans: **

**What should I make Tayuya's dream out to be? **

**Every Straw Hat has a dream, a dark past and Luffy saving them from a major life-wrecking jam. Got the latter two down but I've no idea about the dream part. :/**


End file.
